Turkish manti is a food you have to taste! The tiny homemade pastry filled with spicy ground beef, cooked in water and served with a yogurt sauce. That butter sauce on manti dumplings is a to-die-for final touch.
If you are interested in Turkish recipes like manti, you should try our Turkish eggs recipe, which is served with yogurt and spicy butter sauces too. Belive it or not, we love these sauces on stuffed grape leaves dolmas too. They match together wonderfully!
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What is Manti?
Dumplings in Turkish are called manti and it’s one of those dishes everyone craves for every time. A dough similar to pasta dough is rolled out, cut in tiny squares and filled with a spicy groud beef filling. Traditionally, we serve manti with garlicky yogurt and a spicy butter sauce on it. Manti is not only known in Turkey, it is also famous in Chinese, Armenian, Russian, Uzbek, Kyrgyz and Balkan cuisines. It has different names in each culture for sure.
It’s not an easy dish for many people, so people may not prefer making it at home. If you insist on eating Turkish manti, but have no time to make it, you can find it packaged at markets. I find them tasteless though, they are no different from pasta and they have almost no filling inside. There are some small bakery like shops in Turkey producing and selling Turkish dumplings, which are better than market versions. If the owner of these shops is an old lady and if she herself makes it, this is even better! But still why not make it at home?
Making Manti Food Together
Well, I admit that it’s a bit time-consuming if you are making it alone, but I can’t say that it’s a difficult dish. It might take hours to make these small dumplings depending on the amount. Time is the real concern here, so Turkish women come together at one of their homes and make it in a teamwork. At least 3 women - sometimes more work together to make dumplings especially for special days like weddings, welcome or farewell parties or family unions. One of them make dough and roll it out, another one cut it into squares, a third one put filling on each square and then they all start to close them up.
Making Turkish Dumplings Manti means more than making the dish itself. Although they serve for one purpose, which is completing the dish, women never miss the chance of having some chat; well, maybe a bit gossiping! And this is absolutely the best solution for time problem! They can hardly realize how time runs when they finally seal the last dumpling!
The best part of making dumplings with some friends is that you have lots of it in the end and you can freeze some for a future cooking! It becomes an easy dish then! Just boil them in water and enjoy with yogurt!
I think teamwork is definitely a must if you are planning to make Turkish Dumplings Manti for a large group of guests, but you can easily handle it yourself if you make it for two of you.
Ingredients
So what goes into Turkish manti dumplings recipe? First, let's talk about the dough. You don’t need many ingredients for manti dough. Flour, egg, salt and water are what you need. We sometimes make it with whole wheat flour, but you can use all purpose flour too.
As for the filling, we need ground beef, onion, parsley and spices. Optionally, we use very little pepper or tomato paste too.
As for the service, we need two kind of sauces. First one is a yogurt sauce with garlic. Second is a spicy butter sauce.
Manti From Scratch
The recipe has 4 folds: Making the dough and cutting it into tiny squares, prepare the filling, fill the squares, cook them in hot water just like you cook pasta, serve with yogurt and spicy butter sauces.
Mix flour, egg and salt in a large bowl. Add water little by little and mix with your hand. Knead it well until you have a not very soft dough. You can add extra water or flour to have this result. Roll the dough ball out not very thin, about 2mm. Cut it first into strips and then into small squares.
So many dough squares waiting to be closed up! If you double the ingredients, you feel that you need someone to help you at this stage!
Here starts the fun part! First fold it into two. Then combine all edges. Then you have this bundle like shape. It took me no longer than 15-20 minutes to finish them all!
Cook the dumplings. Heat 4 cups of water in a pot and add dumplings when it boils. Boil them until soften for about 10 minutes. Transfer them into plates with a slotted spoon.
Prepare the sauces. For the yogurt sauce, mix yogurt, salt and garlic. For the oil sauce; melt butter and add in olive oil. Add in dried mint and red pepper flakes, stir. Take it after about 20 seconds.
Pour some yogurt on dumplings and drizzle a little oil sauce over it before serving. We also love to sprinkle a little sumac on it. YUM!
Tips and Tricks
- Let the manti dough sit covered with a damp kitchen towel for about 30 minutes before rolling it out.
- Use a 90% lean ground beef for the filling to have a better taste and texture.
- The ground beef filling shouldn’t be juicy. Otherwise the juice will soften the dough squares and distort the shape of dumplings. So don’t puree the onion. It’s better to chop the onion with a knife.
- Close up the tiny manti dough squares as fast as you can. Otherwise, they might dry out as they sit and it gets harder to seal them.
- Just like you do when cooking pasta, add a pinch of salt and a drop of oil into the simmering water when cooking manti. They won’t stick to one another this way.
- To have even richer flavor, you can add beef stock in the simmering water and then cook the fresh dumplings in it.
- Cook the dumplings for about 10-15 minute, not longer than this. Check them after 10 minutes and remove if they are tender enough.
Other Turkish Recipes
- How To Make Turkish Baklava With Phyllo
- Turkish Börek With Cheese
- Cheese Stuffed Pogaca Recipe
- Homemade Pide With Beef
📖 Recipe
Turkish Manti Dumplings
Turkish manti dumplings. Homemade pasta filled with a spicy ground beef mixture, cooked and topped with garlicky yogurt and butter sauce.
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
- Category: Pastry
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients
Dough:
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ cup lukewarm water
Filling:
- 200g ground beef (90% lean)
- 1 onion, chopped finely
- ¼ bunch parsley, chopped finely
- ½ tsp salt
- A pinch of black pepper
- 1 tsp pepper paste
Yogurt Sauce:
- 1 cup yogurt
- 2 cloves garlic, mashed
- A pinch of salt
Butter Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tsp red pepper flakes or chili, sweet or hot
- 1 tsp dried mint
- 4 cups water to boil dumplings
Instructions
- Mix flour, egg and salt.
- Add water little by little and mix with your hand.
- Knead it well until you have a not very soft dough. You can add extra water or flour to have this result. Cover it with a damp kitchen towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.
- Sift a little flour on the counter. Grab the dough ball and roll it out, not very thin, about 2mm thick.
- Cut it first into strips, then into small squares.
- Place about ½ teaspoon filling on each square.
- Close them up patiently.
- Heat 4 cups of water in a pot, add in a pinch of salt and a drop of oil. Bring it to boil. Add in the dumplings and let it simmer until tender, for 10-15 minutes.
- Transfer them into bowls with a slotted spoon.
- For the yogurt sauce, mix yogurt, salt and garlic.
- For the butter and oil sauce, melt butter and add in olive oil. Add in dried mint and red pepper flakes or paprika, stir. Take it after about 20 seconds.
- To serve, pour some yogurt sauce on the dumplings and drizzle a little oil sauce over it before serving.
Notes
- Let the manti dough sit covered with a damp kitchen towel for about 30 minutes before rolling it out.
- Use a 90% lean ground beef for the filling to have a better taste and texture.
- The ground beef filling shouldn’t be juicy. Otherwise the juice will soften the dough squares and distort the shape of dumplings. So don’t puree the onion. It’s better to chop the onion with a knife.
- Close up the tiny manti dough squares as fast as you can. Otherwise, they might dry out as they sit and it gets harder to seal them.
- Just like you do when cooking pasta, add a pinch of salt and a drop of oil into the simmering water when cooking manti. They won’t stick to one another this way.
- To have even richer flavor, you can add beef stock in the simmering water and then cook the fresh dumplings in it.
- Cook the dumplings for about 10-15 minute, not longer than this. Check them after 10 minutes and remove if they are tender enough.
Keywords: manti, turkish manti, manti dumplings, manti recipe
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I actually got to your site for the sauces cos I bought a package of manti and i wanted to see how it looked like when served. Agree with you on one thing, packaged manti is quite tasteless. The yogurt sauce and spicy butter sauce made it better though. 🙂 next time I will try making some from scratch using your recipe. Would like to know what other Turkish dish would go well with manti? Thanks!
Hi Carlotta,
Happy to see you here on our blog! The yogurt sauce and spicy butter can work on almost anything. Right? Please let us know how you find it when you have a chance to make manti from scratch. Well, as for the dishes going well with manti, we mostly have it with a salad like shepherd salad. As manti is quite filling, nothing else is needed.
This is my favourite dish and I love it way too much . I'm definitely going to try this . Keep up the good work !!!
★★★★★
I wish I could eat in my home and I think it will be really tasty
★★★★★
I just saw your name! Her name is Zerrin, too!! It must be a sign 😉
Such a sweet coincidence! Please give my best wishes to her 🙂
I’ve been wanting to make this at home for my turkish mother-in-law as it is almost impossible to find here in the states in restaurants or even middle eastern stores. I just did a google search and your recipe popped right up! I can’t wait to try it and surprise her. Thank you so much for sharing - she is 87 and this will make her so happy. <3
Hi Lisa! I'd be really happy if you make it for your mother-in-law. And it will be my honor if a Turkish woman at that age loves my recipe. Would love to hear the result when you have a chance to try it.
I am so glad I found this recipe. I first had these in a Turkish restaurant somewhere in Boston a few years ago, and they were delicious. I remember the sauce had mint in it. So good.
This is a favorite of almost all Turkish people. Hope you have a chance to make it soon. Would love to hear your feedback then.
Hi,
please let me know how many mantis did you get from this dough
Thanks
Well, I've never counted them, they are so tiny. But I can say that these are for two or three portions.
Hello, quick question on this recipe. Do you cook the beef filling prior to stuffing into the dumplings? Or does it cook while they boil?
Hi Alex! No, we don't cook the filling beforehand. As they are so small in size, they can be cooked when boiling in some minutes.
We've never even considered making our own mantı (we have a decent yufkacı down the road from us). It look time consuming but worth the effort as it looks lovely. You may have tempted us to try ourselves, Zerrin. 🙂
Julia
Hi Julia! It's great if you are happy with the manti you buy from your yufkacı! I don't really like the ones I buy from shops here. If you're looking for some culinary experience, you should try it:)
Zerrin, your photos are wonderful. I am learning so much from your posts. You are introducing me to so many foods that are new to me. They all look delicious! I think I will start with the pide though. I am guessing that making these dumplings takes practice. Yours are beautiful!
Thank you Wendy! It's my pleasure! Making pide first is a good idea as it's easier:) But I'm sure you can make these dumplings too!
What a beautiful process and what a wonderful reward. Could these dumplings look any better? Thank you so much for sharing. I have had a long day...and I needed something delicious to cheer me up. I hope you are well. Enjoy the rest of your week. Happy Spring!
Thank you Monet! These dumplings always rock! I may not have time to make these after birth, so I thought I had to share the recipe before our son comes:) Happy Nevruz and happy Spring to you too!
Those are so tiny Zerrin! What patience you have to form them all. It must be a labor of love. I bet they are amazing!
Reeni, these dumplings are so tasty that I don't think of the labor they require! It's definitely worth every single minute of work!
Sorry, I read about the flours. So forget about that questions, just read the pepper paste one 🙂
Hi, they look good, first time hearing of this dish. I have a couple questions so I can try and make it one of this days. Can I use all-purpuse flour in case I can´t find whole wheat? Is it too much differece? And, for the filling, can I substitute the pepper paste? (I´m not sure where/if I can get it here).
Thanks!! 🙂
Hi Susan! You can definitely use all purpose flour, you may need to decrease the amount of water a little then. Dough will not be soft and sticky, so you can play with the amounts of flour and water. Also, pepper paste is not a must in this recipe, you can just leave it out. Maybe you can add a little chili powder to give it a reddish color, but it's optional.
Thanks!! 🙂 What a quick reply! I´ll try them.
You're welcome Susan! Would love to hear the result when you try!
Dear Zerrin, your manti is a work of art!! : ) I know it is a labor of love, but what a result, your photos are wonderful and inspired me to have a go at them, hope soon. As you say, it would be wonderful to have friends around to make this feast, eline saglik!
Thank you Ozlem! Glad to hear that my manti inspired a talented cook like you! It's always better to make such dishes with some friends!
Here in Beirut, mantis are sold frozen and are called Armenian shish barak! 🙂
Love your version, made all the more exotic with a Kirghiz touch! I found in Beirut a rolling pin called mantimatik made especially for making manta, it cuts them into perfect tiny squares as you roll them out; I confess though i love your rolling pin!
In some regions, these mantis are even smaller and they are called spoon borek! I've heard that there are mantimatiks here in Turkey too, but never used used it. Love to work with my rolling pin:)
All in perfect combination! You are right, the ones you can find in the stores are tasteless and does not have filling. I paid a hefty price to buy from the Middle Eastern store here in the US several weeks ago, Gulluoglu brand I think. It was just dough - no filling. We were so mad, we could have purchased ten boxes of pasta for what I paid for that small box.
So, making your own is way to go. My grandma bakes it first, then boils it but I find it easy just to boil in one step 🙂
Sorry for your disappointment! Gulluoglu is so famous for its baklava, but I didn't know that it produces manti too. So everyone (every brand) should produce what they are good at! And making manti at home is always the best as you can decide the amount of filling you place in dumplings. I sometimes bake it to freeze, but I just boil raw if I make it right away. I think it is more flavorful this way.
Super idée et cela donne envie ! bravo
So tiny and pretty... That is something I have been dreaming of making since quite a while now. Your manti are fabulous
Cheers,
Rosa
People find it a bit difficult because they are that tiny, but I think a little work makes everything tastier! You will love these Turkish dumplings Rosa!